From Rumi to rhymes

You could often hear the voices before reaching the door. Laughter echoing down the hallway. A rhythm tapped against a table. Children trying out rhymes, repeating lines until the words finally landed. Inside our library at GU Britz, the usual quiet of a reading room has been replaced by something more musical.

At the centre of it all sits Taha, 6aha Aiwa, a Syrian rapper, lyricist, and producer from Aleppo. For him, music has always been more than sound: “Music has always felt like my first language,” he says. “It’s the thing that stayed with me through my journey from Syria and helped me hold onto a sense of who I am.” Active since 2007, he founded the band والدالعم (Wladalamm) in Berlin in 2016. With six albums to his name, his music blends electronic sounds, Arabic rap, and contemporary poetry, exploring themes of exile, nostalgia, and identity. His lyrics reflect a philosophical journey through metaphysical landscapes and inner psychology. 6aha Aiwa collaborates globally, believing Arabic rap carries a unique social critique, uniting dialects and voices from the streets.

Music, Language, and Belonging

At Lilipad, Taha leads sessions that combine Arabic language learning with music and storytelling. The approach is simple but powerful: create a playful environment where children can explore language. “My goal is to create a warm, playful environment where children feel safe to express themselves,” Taha explains. “Especially in their mother tongue.” One moment early in his workshops stayed with him. Many of the children, he realised, could not read or write in Arabic. “That was difficult to see,” he says. “Language isn’t just grammar or letters - it’s a way to express yourself and feel at home in your own story.”

Inspired by the poetic heritage of writers like Rumi, the workshop sessions encourage children to experiment with language while discovering the rhythm and storytelling power of hip hop. What begins with playful exercises, clapping rhythms, improvising lines, building rhymes together,  gradually evolves into something more ambitious.
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Over several weeks, the group begins writing a song together. Ideas bounce around the room, verses are rewritten, the beat changes, everyone contributes. Slowly, a collective piece begins to take shape.

The Final Showcase

After weeks of writing, rehearsing, and refining their lyrics, the programme reached an exciting moment: a public showcase at Refuge Worldwide, the Berlin-based community radio and cultural space.
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For many of the children, it was the first time performing in front of an audience. Standing together on stage, they performed the song they had created during the workshops. The evening also included another special element: Marina from Ātma Portrait Studio joined with her mobile photo studio, giving the young performers a chance to capture the moment beyond the stage. Marina spent over a decade working in tech before launching Ātma Portrait Studio in 2023, a self-portrait space designed to help people feel confident, relaxed, and seen. What began as a personal passion project has since evolved into a mobile, community-focused studio that has been an incredible addition to our workshops and events.

For Lilipad, programmes like Rap & Poetry are part of a broader storytelling approach. Inside the libraries, children explore many forms of creative expression, from calligraphy and graffiti to photography, theatre, and music. But the principle remains the same: every child deserves the chance to express their story in their own way.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this programme possible: Our deepest thanks go to all the artists and facilitators for guiding the workshops with creativity, care, and empathy, and for creating a space where the children felt confident to experiment with language and performance. We are also grateful to Refuge Worldwide for hosting the final showcase and for supporting the event with their sound engineering expertise. This programme was made possible through the generous support of the Projektfonds Kulturelle Bildung, whose commitment to cultural education continues to open creative opportunities for young people across Berlin.

Credits: 

Organised by lilipad e.V.
Workshops led by Taha Sheikh Dieh, Nicky Böhm, Sorah and The Poetry Project
Supported by Berliner Projektfonds Kulturelle Bildung
Event photos by Cormac Dunne